The Scottish Football Association have revealed the “inaugural” friendly match between the two countries for the Qatar Airways Cup would be a one-off.

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SCOTLAND'S football bosses have moved to cut their ties with Qatar after a controversial friendly between the two countries.

The Scottish Football Association have revealed the “inaugural” match for the Qatar Airways Cup would be a one-off.

They have endured heavy criticism after failing to question the conditions endured by immigrant workers building the 2022 World Cup infrastructure in Qatar before forging deals on a high-powered visit to the Gulf state.

The Scottish game’s ruling body had billed the friendly between Scotland and Qatar at Easter Road on Friday night as the first in a series.

But they have now ruled out future matches between the two national sides. An SFA spokesman said: “There are no plans for the Qatar Airways Cup to be an annual event.”

Yesterday, campaigners criticised the SFA’s continuing silence over the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar, where more than 1000 have died building roads and hotels linked to the staging of the World Cup.

The awarding of the tournament is one of the most controversial in FIFA’s history and has come under added scrutiny since the FBI arrested senior executives of world football’s governing body as part of a multi-million-pound corruption probe.

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Simon Barrow, of the Scottish Football Supporters Association, said: “The voice of fans who do not want football to be a blood sport has been listened to. But this is just the start.

“Now the football authorities and Government must exert maximum pressure to change labour conditions associated with the World Cup. The deaths and slavery must be stopped.”

Stephen Russell, co-ordinator of Playfair Qatar, added: “While it’s great we won’t have this embarrassment of Scotland playing Qatar again, we don’t have any further pressure on Qatar either.”

Tony Nicoletti / Daily Record

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, who joined the Sunday Mail on a trip exposing World Cup slave camps in Qatar last year, said: “Qatari football and FIFA seem to have an unhealthy relationship which will now be the subject of a serious criminal investigation.

“FIFA is drowning in corruption and migrant workers are dying at an alarming rate in Qatar. It’s impossible to believe that the decision to take the World Cup to Qatar was made for footballing reasons.

“While so many workers are dying and until Qatar can prove that its bid was clean and corruption-free, then good people in football should take a stand. Scotland shouldn’t be playing in an annual trophy to celebrate a World Cup that should never have gone to Qatar.”

Four months ago, an SFA delegation led by chief executive Stewart Regan visited Qatar on a fact-finding mission, which included looking at their Aspire Academy for Sporting Excellence.

Regan said at the time that he hoped the two nations could “work together” in the future.

But Friday night’s friendly, sponsored by Qatar Airways, is set to be the end of any link-up between the two countries. The SFA spokesman added: “With our National Performance Centre due to open next year, it was an opportunity to see the facilities in what is widely regarded as the best-appointed football academy in the world and share best practice ahead of the centre being built.”

The SFA declined to say how much sponsorship funding it had received from Qatar Airways for the match.

Qatar’s hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup have been thrown into doubt following the resignation of FIFA president Sepp Blatter last Tuesday. The FBI’s investigation into corruption includes an examination of the bidding process for the 2018 tournament awarded to Russia, as well as Qatar four years later.

Last year, Health Secretary Shona Robison wrote to the Qatar authorities offering support and advice on running major sporting events.

But the Scottish Government have refused to publish the letter, even rejecting a request under freedom of information laws. A spokeswoman said: “The letter highlighted Scotland’s strong support for human rights, and registered the Scottish Government’s concerns over the treatment of migrant workers involved in construction projects in Qatar.”

Human rights groups have estimated that 4000 migrant workers in Qatar will die by the time the World Cup kicks off in 2022.

However, last week the Qatari government said no one had died while working on a “World Cup construction site”.

They claimed: “After almost five million work hours on World Cup construction sites, not a single worker’s life has been lost.” Meanwhile, Qatar Airways described Friday’s match as a “highly successful event” and said they hadn’t ruled out sponsoring a rematch next year.

A spokesman said: “Qatar Airways will consider over the coming months whether to re-run the Qatar Airways Cup in Scotland or elsewhere in the United Kingdom but have yet to have any discussions with the Scottish FA.”